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Mixed Vegetables in Yellow Lentils - My Daily Dal

Lentils (dals) are such an important part of a
vegetarian’s meal everyday, for all the protein it has, and for its
accompaniment to rice and roti. And my
hubby being brought up in South India, needs
rice and dal every day, while I’m happy with only roti and sabji. But since I have to cook
dal daily, I get really, really bored making and eating the same thing
everyday. So what I do is add variety to
the simple dal.

On daily
basis, we mostly have split pigeon peas (toor
dal), bengal gram (chana dal),
split green gram (yellow moong dal),
and sometimes I add some split orange lentils (chilkewali masoor dal) or Turkish gram/mat bean (moth/matki) to it. The lentils, the spices, the vegetables, the
quantities – everything in this dal recipe is absolutely flexible. Even the procedure is flexible! Though for a simple and plain dal, it
wouldn’t even have such a long list of ingredients and method.

But for
one, I don’t ever make the plain dal with only the cumin seeds tadka.
(What is tadka?) I’m always adding vegetables
to my dal – basic ones being tomato and spinach, making it tamatar-palak dal. Otherwise any other vegetables, for example
if there are some veggies chopped extra from previous meal, or if some veggies
are about to rot, or sometimes just anything random. Not only does it make dal more nutritious, it
also adds color. And helps me play
guessing games with my husband – if he guesses the correct vegetables in the
dal, he gets dessert. Hehe.

There are 3
ways of cooking this mixed vegetable in yellow lentils using pressure cooker:

1) Everything altogether in the pressure cooker, let’s call it
one-pot dal, and

I make Dal
# 1 when I have the time to chop and prepare everything before or while
starting to pressure cook the lentils and veggies. I make Dal # 2 when I lack time and need to
prepare veggies while dal gets pressure cooked and cooled. I make Dal # 3 when I forget the tempering
(tadka) at the beginning and go on throwing everything in the pressure cooker. Hehe, yes, that happens too.

It also depends
on my mood; when I feel like cooking either style or whether I wish to wash the
extra pan, but each of them taste equally great.

1. Rinse the 1 cup
dal several times until clean. I don’t
like to wash under running water because it wastes a lot of water. Instead, I fill up water in one of my plastic
containers and rub the lentils inside.
Then discard dirty water, fill fresh tap water again. Continue this cycle about 4-5 times. Then if you have time, you can let the dal
soak in 2 cups water for anywhere between 20 minutes to 2 hours. Or you can use it right away.

At this point, if you’re using onions as one of your vegetables,
you add them first inside the pressure cooker to sauté until golden-brown, then
add garlic + ginger + green chilies AND/OR red chili powder + turmeric powder +
all other vegetables + your choice of dal that you rinsed.

Mix everything for a minute.
Now even if you don’t sauté onions first, you can just throw all the
ingredients together in the pressure cooker and the dal will still turn out
great. But I notice that sautéing the
vegetables and lentils first gives a better flavor and I like it this way. Now, after you’ve mixed all well, add salt +
sugar + about 2.5 cup to max 3 cups water.

3. Close the pressure
cooker lid tight and well. Let the dal
cook on medium heat until 3-4 whistles until done, then switch off heat. Open the lid when all the steam is out and
it’s safe. Mix the dal around because it
may have settled in the bottom and some water layer on top. Add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

Dal # 2: Procedure
for two-pot mixed vegetable dal using a pressure cooker and a pan:

1. The concept of
rinse and soak is same as the Procedure # 1 above. Then put the dal + 2 cup water in pressure
cooker, let cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until 3-4 whistles. Switch off heat when the dal is done, while
you are cooking the veggies.

2. While that goes on, start to prepare all the pastes or
chopped vegetables and other ingredients.
Then heat oil/ghee in pan. Add
mustard seeds AND/OR cumin seeds, let pop, add dry red chilies + curry leaves +
asafoetida. At this point, if you’re
using onions AND/OR potato as one of your vegetables, you add them first and
sauté until golden-brown, then add garlic + ginger + green chilies AND/OR red
chili powder + turmeric powder + all other vegetables and cook for couple of
minutes like you would prepare a stir-fry vegetable dish. Add salt + sugar and mix.

3. At this point: a)
if your dal is pressure cooked and the steam is cooled down and ready to open
lid – check the consistency of dal, if you like a more liquidy dal (I don't) then
add water and let it come to a boil, then pour the dal into the pan of
stir-fried veggies, otherwise b) switch off the heat of pan and wait until dal
is pressure cooked, then adjust water, boil, pour into pan and reheat.

4. Mix the dal and veggies until well combined. Taste and adjust
salt, add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

2. Switch off
heat and let the pressure release completely before you open the pressure
cooker lid. If your dal is thick and you
want it liquidier, now is the time to add water to the dal within pressure
cooker and let it come to a boil without the lid. Then leave dal in the pressure cooker or
transfer to serving bowl.

3. Now get the tadka ready. In a ladle or the smallest bowl-shaped pan
you have, heat up oil. Add mustard seeds AND/OR cumin seeds, let pop, add dry red chilies
+ curry leaves + asafoetida and let heat up few seconds. Quickly but gently insert this ladle/pan into
the dal. It will sizzle big time. Mix well.
Taste and adjust salt, add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

The 1 cup
raw/uncooked dal along with vegetables ends up in double the quantity and makes
enough for 5-6 persons. I usually make this amount of dal at dinner, pack
some in lunchbox for husband for the next day and keep some for my lunch
too. It's great for working and busy people because you can make this dal
once and refrigerate in small containers to consume over a period of 3-4 days,
or freeze and consume within 2-3 months. Dal freezes well.

Serve the warm Mixed Vegetable Dal (or
if it’s Tamatar-Palak Dal) with roti and rice, at lunch or dinner, or have the
dal by itself. It is nutritious and can
be consumed just like a soup. But don’t
call it “Dal Soup”, puh-leese!

What do you have to cook regularly and how do you add variety to it? Tell me!

All of my childhood, I have eaten food cooked in a coal stove. And it tastes amazing. We never had a mixer grinder either, we used to grind our masalas in what we call an 'Ammi' (in tamil). The taste is great. And our dry masalas were pound. I love all the technology and invenntions that came after that but the taste I have never quite had the same :). You must try it.

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